Ascent with little or no air in BCD??

[blackvans1234]

I always go up with my body horizontal, and not vertical, as being vertical helps me to stay in control.

So you're a wild one eh?

I dun reccomend it!

 

[boulderjohn]

Really? I think it is quite categorically wrong.

Dumping all the air from your BCD, then attempting to ascend totally negative is a recipe for an accident.

I fully agree with you, Andy, but the sad fact is that there are instructors who teach it. I heard a CD teach it once. I led a trip to Belize once, and the DM assigned to our group gave those instructions to everyone before every dive. What do they have in common? I am not sure either dives when the water gets much below 80°F. As I said in my post, that system works when properly weighted in warm water and a thin wet suit.

Several years ago I was teaching an AOW student who had just moved to our area. She was wearing a 7mm suit and hood for the first time in her life. We came to the end of the first dive, and I signaled time to ascend. It was the first time in my life I had ever seen someone dump all the air before ascending. I sprinted down and caught her before she plummeted too much deeper. When we reached the surface, she told me that her OW instructor had indeed taught her to dump all her air before ascending.

 

[w ripley]

So you're a wild one eh?

I dun reccomend it!

Sorry, meant to say being horizontal helps me...

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Hey guys, I am (turned in July) 16 (got my cert when I was 15) and me and my dad went diving in Lake Ore-Be-Gone, MN. The sport is still new to us, but I can tell that I have pretty much found a love for diving thats gonna last me a lifetime!

...

But heres my question: On the second dive of the day in an effort to avoid that situation again, I added 2 more pounds of weight (which ended up being to much because I was overweighted a little) and dove with little air in my BCD. When it was time to start making our way to the surface from 55 ft I let all the air out of my BCD (our instructor told us, NEVER use your BCD as an elevator, always let ALL the air out), and started kicking to the surface, which became very tiring very fast. It was sort of a anxious feeling because I would look at my depth gauge and notice that I was going up very very slowly but as soon as I stopped kicking I would slowly start descending again, so it took a lot of energy for me to make it to the surface.

Do I have to let ALL the air out of my BCD, or is it just most of it? Just some general advice to the newbies would be great!

Interests
I play soccer, and I swim, I ski, and I DIVE!!

OK, let me get this straight; you are 16 years old, you play soccer, swim and ski, yet with a pair of very powerful open heel scuba fins swimming up from 55' with no air in your BC "became very tiring very fast."

In no particular order, here's my questions; where did you get scuba certified, what exposure protection are you using, what is your height/weight, how much weight were you diving with, what kind of tanks were you using, what kind of tanks were you certified with and what psi were those tanks on each ascent described above???????

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I find it incredible that ANYONE would think that dumping all the air from a BC to initiate an ascent is good advice. Is this some new PADI Advice? I certainly don't remember ever hearing it when I was a PADI instructor?!!

Seriously, for cold water diving in wetsuits this is NOT a matter of opinion, it is F'n WRONG.

 

[navyasw02]

I find it incredible that ANYONE would think that dumping all the air from a BC to initiate an ascent is good advice. Is this some new PADI Advice? I certainly don't remember ever hearing it when I was a PADI instructor?!!

Seriously, for cold water diving in wetsuits this is NOT a matter of opinion, it is F'n WRONG.

Really? Navy dive school taught me to dump my air and fin to the surface. You can't have an uncontrolled ascent that way. If you can't do that successfully, you're probably either overweighted or underpowered.

 

[deadbilly]

I agree completely. Don't do it. My open water instructor (whom I would not recommend) taught this and I learned first-hand why it was a bad idea. I was horribly overweighted and ascending from 75ft on my AOW deep dive. I did as I was told and dumped the gas from my BC and began kicking for the surface. At around 45ft my leg cramped up badly from the effort and stopping to pull the cramp out, I plummeted for the bottom nearly rupturing and ear drum with the rapidity of the descent. Being neutral and properly weighted would have prevented any of these problems from happening.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Really? Navy dive school taught me to dump my air and fin to the surface. You can't have an uncontrolled ascent that way. If you can't do that successfully, you're probably either overweighted or underpowered.

Ha ha I dove with ONE Navy diver one time. He was absolutely terrible in the water and had near zero bouyancy control. That was over 30 years ago.

I don't care who is teaching that crap; it is wrong and stupid and dangerous (again for coldwater diving with a thick wetsuit).

Hey you could never fill your tank with more than 200 psi too, that way you can never get bent.

 

[navyasw02]

Ha ha I dove with ONE Navy diver one time. He was absolutely terrible in the water and had near zero bouyancy control. That was over 30 years ago.

I don't care who is teaching that crap; it is wrong and stupid and dangerous (again for coldwater diving with a thick wetsuit).

Hey you could never fill your tank with more than 200 psi too, that way you can never get bent.

I'm glad you can draw such concrete conclusions from a single sample of Navy divers. Are you a government statistician?

 

[boulderjohn]

Is this some new PADI Advice?

Not remotely.